In order to escape the heat and smoke in the air, John and I decide to take a short trip up the California coast to Trinidad. I find a vacation rental that is on the ocean where we can “chill” out for a few days.
The rental itself is kind of odd. The whole upper floor seems to be someone’s house. The lower floor where the rentals are seems to be a renovation done as cheaply as possible. There’s no stove in the kitchen just a toaster oven and a convection burner. The bathroom is situated as far away from the bedroom as possible so it is quite a trek in the middle of the night. But it’s okay and we will manage.
We go to downtown Trinidad, find the smallish grocery store and buy ourselves some steak, baking potatoes, and a bag of charcoal. John sets about cooking and, even though it is a bit nippy, we sit at the outdoor table overlooking the ocean and Whale Rock.
While we are in Trinidad we take a walk through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park’s Fern Canyon Trail. Water draining into the sea from a retreating ocean carved canyons and left cliffs millions of years ago. The microclimate in these canyons is extremely damp and perfect for ferns, oxalis, frogs, and salamanders. We walk through this corridor of ferns dodging fallen trees and a small stream. It is quite a wondrous place.
We go as far as we are able without having to climb over too many of the fallen trees that block the path.
We also visit the Lady Bird Johnson Redwood Grove established by President Nixon in her honor for her tireless efforts to save the old growth redwoods on the Pacific coast. Once again we are in a special misty place with 600 to 800 year old redwoods towering above us.
I have only booked three nights and they go by swiftly. It is so nice to be in the cool of the coast. The temperature never got above 65F. Leaving Trinidad we take the long drive to St. George, Utah where we can experience the other end of the temperature spectrum. I think we need to spend more time at the coast in the summer.